“I was very happy when I joined Arsenal but I asked one of my friends how the negotiations started and if they had scouted me before, the 24-year-old told Egyptian outlet DMC Sports.

“He told me that Arsenal officials were scouting Fabian Schar in the first place, and that’s when they noticed me.

“All of us at Basel knew that Schar was linked with Arsenal and at every season’s end, we congratulated him as the move was close to completion, according to Schar himself. But afterwards, things changed quickly.

AFP

Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny played alongside Fabian Schar at Basel

“My agent told me that Arsenal officials came many times to watch Schar but they were impressed every time by my performances and development and they went on to sign me instead.”

Schar is a full Switzerland international and was with Basle from 2012 until June 2015 when he moved to German club Hoffenheim.